A svelte brunette croons "Besame Mucho" to the small crowd, her smooth voice accompanied by a computer-driven soundtrack. The song runs seamlessly into the next, a dreamy Russian folk tune. She doesn't mind that no one applauds. She's creating atmosphere....

When the woman who helped shine a spotlight on famed bear Meatball first heard the bruin's hometown was trying to raise money for a float in his honor, she worried that the funding could be better spent helping Meatball — also called Glen Bearian...

About 1,000 young women from Pasadena and surrounding communities lined up outside the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Assn.'s Tournament House on South Orange Grove Boulevard on Saturday to compete for an opportunity to be part on the Royal Court for the...

Glendale Centre Theatre is again the New Year's-party destination for those who love live theater.
The comedy, “Over the River and Through the Woods,” will be presented at 6:30 and 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve. Set in 1998, “Over the River&...

Lilit Mkrtchian's favorite part of watching the Tournament of Roses Parade every year is spotting the Glendale float and pointing out the parts she helped decorate.
Come this New Year's Day, she will be able to boast about the uva grass, a cream-colored tropical plant, and other materials she glued on the star of this year's float: Meatball the bear.
PHOTOS: Glendale Rose Parade float volunteers in full swing
The 35-foot-long craft's design, which features animals living in Glendale's hillsides,...

Metro is offering free service on its buses and trains for New Year's Eve revelers looking for a sober late-night ride home.
The free service starts at 9 p.m. Tuesday and runs through 2 a.m. Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The effort is designed "with the goal of reducing traffic congestion and providing safe transportation for those staying out extra late," according to a post on Metro's blog, The Source.
Metro officials also said that on New Year's Day, buses and trains will be on...

Mild weather on Tuesday will give way to a brisk New Year's Eve, followed by a pleasant, sunny day for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, forecasters say.
New Year's Eve revelers can expect the temperature to fall to about 50 degrees at 11 p.m. with no precipitation in the forecast, the Los Angeles Times reported.
For the New Year's Day festivities in Pasadena, parade watchers would do well to bundle up for the early morning hours, with overnight lows expected to...

New Year's Day Photos

On Sunday, Glendalians were having fun in very different ways.
Those of the artistic bent went to the Forest Lawn Museum on Glendale Avenue. The featured exhibit "L.A. Woman — Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" displays the works of 24 female artists who have made an impact on Los Angeles art, history and culture.
The installation attracted men and women. Glassell Park residents Bonnie and Sam Kurtz took their four children to the museum. Attracting the couple was an oil-on-wood panel, titled "The...

When Anita Johnson Mackey of Glendale looks back on the 100 years she’s lived, she can hardly believe how fast the time has flown by, and feels blessed to have lived it.
“How do I account for this?” she said of turning 100, and gives much credit to her father and the values he instilled in her, grateful he continued to care for her after her mother died during childbirth of a sibling when Mackey was 10 years old.
---
For the record: An earlier version of this post incorrectly...

It's said that every time God closes a door, he opens a window.
Sophia Reyes experienced that firsthand on New Year's Day when her newborn was the first baby of the new year born in Glendale.
“It's a blessing,” she said, adding that her aunt had passed away just the day before.
Reyes' son, Solomon Reign Simmons, was born at 6:14 a.m. at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces and he was 20 1/2 inches long.
Reyes, of Adelato, said her son's original due date was Jan....

I enjoyed your Aug. 23 article, “Expanded Garfield campus debuts,” about the history and opening of the Glendale Community College Garfield campus expansion.
Your piece accurately recounted the epic, hours-long Board of Trustees meeting in 2005 during which my fellow board members and I agreed to increase the allocation of Measure G bond monies to the Garfield campus expansion when significant cost overruns convinced some that the project should be abandoned.
An important part of the story...